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Monument details

HER Number:	TR 25 SW 31
Type of record:	Monument
Name:	Snowdown Colliery

Summary

Work commenced at Snowdown Colliery in 1907 with the first coal being brought to the surface on 19th November 1912. A new town - Aylesham - was built to provide homes for many of the migrant workers from Wales and the North East of England. The colliery was closed by the National Coal Board in 1987. When the site was recorded by the RCHME in 1993 the following buildings still remained: the lamp room, locomotive shed, power house, pithead baths, canteen, fitting shop, carpenters shop and the bus terminus. Also extant at the time was the winding house for number 2 shaft and its associated fan house. Number 2 shaft was capped in 1988 and a plaque records that it was worked to a depth of 940 metres.

Grid Reference:	TR 2491 5096
Map Sheet:	TR25SW
Parish:	AYLESHAM, DOVER, KENT

Monument Types

COLLIERY (Closed, Modern - 1907 AD to 1988 AD)

Full description

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[TR 24685127] Snowdown Colliery [NAT] (1) Snowdown Colliery, Aylesham. The coal seams in Kent were discovered in 1882 during test borings by the South Eastern Railway for a proposed channel tunnel, just west of Shakespeare Cliff near Dover, though the sinking of shafts there did not start until 1896. The coal measures lie at a considerable depth, between 2,000 and 3,000ft and often encounter severe problems of water and sand ingress. Snowdown Colliery is one of only three collieries in Kent being worked by the National Coal Board. The two others are Betteshanger (TR35SW/60) and Tilmonstone (TR25SE/29). (2)

Additional Information (3).

Description from record TR 25 SW 144:
Snowdon colliery near Aylesham, TR 247512. The shaft is 3000 feet deep, and workings extended some 4 miles from the shaft base. Closed during the 1980s. (4)

Closure announced in Noveber 1987 with the loss of 830 jobs (1983 Kent Employment Census). Three capped shafts retained with a protective area of 12 metre radius. The winding towers have now been demolished. A number of good quality buildings still exist. (5)

Building assessment and recording at Snowdown Colliery in advance of redevelopment of the site. The colliery started in 1907 and closed in 1988. Most of the buildings are probably from the 1920s reorganisation of the surface works. They range from small stores to very large winder houses and workshops. The majority are built in brick with steel roof trusses. A few of the buildings may be from the earlier years of the coliery and exhibit some finer detail in brickwork. (6)

For details of the history of the mine and mining operations. (7)

Paul Wilkinson, 2013, Archaeological evaluation at the Snowdown Colliery Welfare Ground/Club (Unpublished document). SKE54852.

<1> Kent Underground Res Grp Res Rep 6 1989 11-14 (M Jack) (OS Card Reference). SKE45949.

<2> Dover District Council, Snowdown Colliery Policy Guidelines (Monograph). SKE6719.

<2> The Ind Arch of SE Eng 1978 13 (A J Haselfoot) (OS Card Reference). SKE50364.

<3> OS 1:2500 1976 (OS Card Reference). SKE48218.

<3> Brett Paving and Construction Limited, 1989, Application for Planning Permission to Remove Minestone from Spoil Heap at Snowdown Colliery (Unpublished document). SKe7640.

<4> The Ind Arch of SE Eng 1978 13 (A J Haselfoot) (OS Card Reference). SKE50364.

<5> Brett Paving and Construction Limited, 1989, Application for Planning Permission to Remove Minestone from Spoil Heap at Snowdown Colliery (Unpublished document). SKE7640.

<6> Oxford Archaeology, 2005, Snowdown Colliery: Historic Building Assessment and Recording (Unpublished document). SKE12991.

<7> Kent Underground Research Group, 1997, Kent Underground Research Group Newsletter no. 55 (Unpublished document). SKE25130.

Sources and further reading

Cross-ref.	Source description
---	Unpublished document: Paul Wilkinson. 2013. Archaeological evaluation at the Snowdown Colliery Welfare Ground/Club.
<1>	OS Card Reference: Kent Underground Res Grp Res Rep 6 1989 11-14 (M Jack).
<2>	OS Card Reference: The Ind Arch of SE Eng 1978 13 (A J Haselfoot).
<2>	Monograph: Dover District Council. Snowdown Colliery Policy Guidelines.
<3>	OS Card Reference: OS 1:2500 1976.
<3>	Unpublished document: Brett Paving and Construction Limited. 1989. Application for Planning Permission to Remove Minestone from Spoil Heap at Snowdown Colliery.
<4>	OS Card Reference: The Ind Arch of SE Eng 1978 13 (A J Haselfoot).
<5>	Unpublished document: Brett Paving and Construction Limited. 1989. Application for Planning Permission to Remove Minestone from Spoil Heap at Snowdown Colliery.
<6>XY	Unpublished document: Oxford Archaeology. 2005. Snowdown Colliery: Historic Building Assessment and Recording. [Mapped feature: #897 Colliery, ]
<7>	Unpublished document: Kent Underground Research Group. 1997. Kent Underground Research Group Newsletter no. 55.

Related records

TR 25 SW 278	Parent of: A building last used as offices, Snowdown Colliery (Building)
TR 25 SW 284	Parent of: Archives building, Snowdown Colliery (Building)
TR 25 SW 290	Parent of: Carpenter's Workshop, Snowdown Colliery (Building)
TR 25 SW 283	Parent of: Cement store, Snowdown Colliery (Building)
TR 25 SW 275	Parent of: Explosives store, Snowdown Colliery (Building)
TR 25 SW 274	Parent of: Fan House and Winder House (Koepe) No. 2 at Snowdown Colliery (Listed Building)
TR 25 SW 289	Parent of: Fitting Workshop and Blacksmith's Workshop, Snowdown Colliery (Building)
TR 25 SW 281	Parent of: Lamp Room, Snowdown Colliery (Building)
TR 25 SW 286	Parent of: Locomotive Shed, Snowdown Colliery (Building)
TR 25 SW 288	Parent of: Mine Car Repair Workshop, Snowdown Colliery (Building)
TR 25 SW 279	Parent of: Office buldings, Snowdown Colliery (Building)
TR 25 SW 350	Parent of: Office, Snowdown Colliery (Building)
TR 25 SW 280	Parent of: Power House and No. 3 Winder House, Snowdown Colliery (Building)
TR 25 SW 282	Parent of: Pump House, lavatories and tank, Snowdown Colliery (Building)
TR 25 SW 292	Parent of: Site of former baths associated with Snowdown Colliery (Monument)
TR 25 SW 291	Parent of: Snowdown Colliery railway station and sidings (Monument)
TR 25 SW 287	Parent of: Stores, Snowdown Colliery (Building)
TR 25 SW 277	Parent of: Tank and pump house, Snowdown Colliery (Building)
TR 25 SW 276	Parent of: Vehicle repair shop, Snowdown Colliery (Building)